Grand Poobah is a satirical term derived from the name of the haughty character Pooh-Bah in Gilbert and Sullivan's ''The Mikado'' (1885). In this comic opera, Pooh-Bah holds numerous exalted offices, including "First Lord of the Treasury, Lord Chief Justice, Commander-in-Chief, Lord High Admiral ... Archbishop ... Lord Mayor" and "Lord High Everything Else". The name has come to be used as a mocking title for someone self-important or locally high-ranking and who either exhibits an inflated self-regard or who has limited authority while taking impressive titles."Pooh-bah"
''Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary'', accessed 14 June 2009 The American writer William Safire wrote that "everyone assumes [the name] Pooh-Bah merely comes from [W. S. Gilbert] combining the two negative exclamations Pooh! plus Bah!, typical put-downs from a typical bureaucrat."

In popular culture

* The term "Grand Poobah" was used recurringly on the television show ''The Flintstones'' as the name of a high-ranking elected position in a secret society, the Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes. The main characters, Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble, were members of the lodge. The lodge is a spoof of secret societies and men's clubs like the Freemasonry, Freemasons, the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, Shriners, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Elks Club and the Moose International, Moose Lodge. * The character Howard Cunningham on the TV series ''Happy Days'' was a Grand Poobah of Leopard Lodge No. 462 in Milwaukee.Holmes, Linda
"RIP Tom Bosley, One Of TV's Great Dads"
National Public Radio, 19 October 2010, accessed 6 March 2018. See, e.g. episode #150, "Burlesque", aired 6 November 1979

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* Fictional titles and ranks Gilbert and Sullivan The Flintstones {{theatre-stub

In popular culture

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